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Tag: Pitching

  • How to pitch your music – ReverbNation Blog

    How to pitch your music – ReverbNation Blog

    There are times when you need to make a great case for your music.

    Whether you want to book better gigs, secure a playlist placement, get an album review, or find sync licensing opportunities, you should:

    1. Capture the attention of industry gatekeepers
    2. Make them curious enough to listen
    3. Prove you’re a good fit for THEIR needs

    But how?

    Join us for this week’s Music Career Study Group to learn:

    • What makes a great pitch
    • Strategies for music pitching
    • The tools you may need for an effective pitch
    • Outreach and follow-up etiquette
    • And more

    Bring your own questions, advice, and pitching stories too!

    It’s happening live on YouTube and Facebook this Thursday, September 19th at 2pm EST.

    Be sure to click the notification bell or RSVP so you don’t miss out.

    Chris Robley

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  • 5 Essential Elements of a PR Pitch That Will Land | Entrepreneur

    5 Essential Elements of a PR Pitch That Will Land | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In my world of all things public relations, “pitch” is the MVP of my lexicon. As a verb, “pitch” lies at the core of my business: it’s what my team does for virtually every client on my list, and it’s arguably the single-most strategic action in launching a full-blown marketing campaign. As a noun, “pitch” is the actual written asset we produce: we throw something into the big wide media net and hope it hits its mark.

    “Hope” is not a word I like to emphasize. My clients don’t want to hear, “I hope I can get you press coverage” or “I have high hopes that we can place your product announcement in this magazine.” No, what they want, what you want and what I want — for all our businesses — is to produce pitches that get noticed, get read and get picked up right out of the gate.

    The mission is clear. Accomplishing that mission is a whole other ballgame.

    Is there a secret formula for effective PR pitches?

    Many things go into a good, solid pitch. Presentation matters — it should look crisp and clean, use an eye-catching but easy-to-read font and be laid out nicely, sure. Length matters — too long, and the reviewer will likely just skim over it; too short, and you won’t be able to generate a message with any real substance. Tone matters — overly formal comes across as stuffy, boring and antiquated; overly informal comes across as too casual, amateur and unprofessional.

    But if I had to narrow down my recipe for a potent, compelling, attention-grabbing pitch, I’d zero in on five staple ingredients that form the base of all of my firm’s pitches.

    Related: PR Pitches Getting Lost in the Abyss? This Storytelling Advice Will Help the Right People Find Them.

    Five action steps to craft a results-generating pitch

    #1: Do a deep dive. Do not go in blind. Do not “wing it.” Do not sit down at your desk and tell yourself, “Something will come to me once I start typing.” Instead, do some research. Then, do some more research. A pitch with an informed viewpoint and data-driven assertions will hit the target over vague, general “rah-rah” pieces 10 times out of 10.

    One of my strongest pitches ever? It was about burgers. I studied the ins and outs (pun intended) for hours on end — what people in the food and beverage industry had already written about burgers, what went into the best burgers and what consumers cared most about in their burgers. My pitch was thoughtful, well-founded and had style. The journalist picked it up right away, writing back to me that it was the best pitch he’d ever received.

    #2: Ensure impeccable grammar. Never underestimate the power of a typo … to sink your pitch right into the mud. Though I’m long on vision, I’m short on the finer points of the English language, so nothing leaves my office that hasn’t been pored over by a grammar and punctuation expert on my editorial team. Draft. Edit. Proof. Repeat.

    Remember that journalists are writers; they respond to good writing and toss faulty writing directly into the trash can. When your pitches are well-written, grammatically correct and error-free, they will align so much better with the brand you’re promoting and will allow the messaging (not the avoidable mistakes) to grab the spotlight.

    Related: Are Your PR Efforts Falling Flat? Here’s How to Fix It

    #3: Adopt a newsworthy angle. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on saying it. To get in the news, you have to bring something new to the table. You have to infuse the well-traveled terrain with a breath of fresh air that feels refreshing and interesting to the media rep.

    To find a novel angle, return to the research board. What hasn’t been said yet? What hasn’t been considered? What intriguing spin can you put on your subject matter that will capture your reader’s attention and pique their curiosity? Unless you’ve settled on an angle that will direct the course of your pitch, don’t start randomly clicking away at the keyboard. Wait until you’re inspired by your own approach to increase the chances that you’ll inspire your audience.

    #4: Turn selling into storytelling. Let’s face it: what a pitch is really doing is trying to sell something. You’re trying to get the media to “buy” what you’re peddling, to take the bait so you can get them on the hook. But a soft sell almost invariably beats out a hard sell, and the key to soft selling is the narrative technique.

    It’s one thing to tout a revolutionary new skincare product on the basis of its chemical composition, regenerative properties and competitive price point. It’s quite another to actually illustrate its life-changing qualities through the words of Janice, a new convert who is obsessed with its silky texture, delicious scent and mind-blowing results around her eyes.

    Facts appeal to the intellect. Stories appeal to the emotions. When you’re trying to reach people, the emotional route will often get you to your destination more persuasively and dynamically.

    Related: How to Write a Winning PR Pitch

    #5: Add your own flair. Enough with the AI and ChatGPT already. We’ve barely gotten started in this arena, and I’m already encountering far too much copy that sounds generic, robotic and soulless. There is a place for personality in the business world, for a singular voice and vision. And a pitch is an excellent vehicle to transmit your particular flair.

    Some pitch writers go for humor, some seek logic and some chase the utterly perfect tagline. Me, I’m a heartstring-puller. That’s just my default mode when working with clients, the press, anyone. So I write from the heart when I’m pitching, with the goal of touching another one. Don’t be afraid to imbue your pitch with passion; people react to that when they sense it’s authentic.

    Don’t neglect this final step

    Do you know how full your inbox is? Well, the media’s boxes are positively overflowing. So don’t wait to be “discovered” amid all those written proposals. Pick up the phone to follow up on your pitch. Invite the recipient to coffee. Try to develop relationships with media contacts. Like you, they’re looking for the next big success story, and if you add this final step, you just might find it together!

    Emily Reynolds Bergh

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  • Want More Customers? Use This Simple 5-Step Process to Create an Irresistible Pitch | Entrepreneur

    Want More Customers? Use This Simple 5-Step Process to Create an Irresistible Pitch | Entrepreneur

    Q: I have a great idea for a service, but how do I know if people want it? – Shana, Tucson, AZ

    If you want to create an irresistible offer, you can’t start with your solution. You must start with other people’s problems — and those problems must be big enough that they’ll pay to solve them.

    How do you know what they’ll pay for? Ask them!

    Terry Rice

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  • The 3 P’s of Selling, According to Andrew Sullivan | Entrepreneur

    The 3 P’s of Selling, According to Andrew Sullivan | Entrepreneur

    “If an entrepreneur can’t pitch their business, they can’t succeed.”

    So says legendary pitchman Anthony Sullivan, who you probably know from his iconic OxiClean commercials. “It’s something we see happen all the time on Entrepreneur’s show, Elevator Pitch, where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to pitch. If they don’t get an investor’s attention, they’re done for.”

    To help entrepreneurs who didn’t succeed on the show (and to offer all entrepreneurs the tricks of the pitching trade) Sullivan teamed up with business coach Tina Frey to host our new show Fix My Pitch. Over the course of this season, four failed Elevator Pitch contestants will receive training from world-class pitching and startup experts. Their ultimate goal? Scoring a second chance in the elevator to win a life-changing investment from our board.

    On this episode, Anthony and Tina meet two contestants with science-based companies and break down some of the basics of a winning pitch. Anthony says it comes down to the three P’s all lining up perfectly: “The pitch, the person and the product.”

    Here are some of the big areas Tina and Anthony drill down on with the entrepreneurs:

    • Exuding confidence with your words and body language
    • Finding that inner salesperson even if you are an introvert
    • Keeping your message simple and digestible
    • Selling by telling a great story

    See how the contestants respond to their first round of blunt criticism, and see if any of Anthony and Tina’s tips can be applied to you and your business. (Spoiler alert: 100% of these tips can be applied to you and your business!)

    Fix My Pitch contestants

    Ashley Rosulek, founder of Osweetfitness, affordable, high-quality luxury athletic wear

    Brandon Storms, founder and CEO of Retavo, a platform to launch and maintain a state-of-the-art enterprise-grade marketplace at an affordable price

    William Colton, MS, CEO of Paldara, a company harnessing the power of natural bacteriophage to fight and prevent disease.

    Arvin Bhangu, founder of Superintelligence, a research lab that aims to create a system that allows for the co-existence of humans and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

    Fix My Pitch experts

    Anthony Sullivan, celebrity pitchman and entrepreneur

    Tina Frey, keynote speaker, coach, communications expert, and author of The ART of Facilitation

    Fix My Pitch is sponsored by State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays now through October 4, 2023 on Entrepreneur.com. Season 10 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch premieres on October 18, 2023.

    Entrepreneur Staff

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  • Pitching to Journalists and Investors Is Like Playing a Game of Cards. Here’s How to Know Which Ones Will Help You Win. | Entrepreneur

    Pitching to Journalists and Investors Is Like Playing a Game of Cards. Here’s How to Know Which Ones Will Help You Win. | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Pitching your story to journalists and investors is similar to playing a game of cards. Although the outcome does depend on your strategy and experience, it is still largely determined by what’s in your hand. The thing is, to get the most out of the cards received, it is necessary to realize their value.

    So, let’s discuss what can become your trump cards and help you achieve your goals — and how to use them properly.

    Joker: $10+ funding round

    When pitching news to journalists, a large investment amount can become your joker. If a company has raised over $10 million, top media outlets will unlikely remain indifferent. Crunchbase data shows that US Series A funding has declined for five consecutive quarters. The situation with Series B funding is no better — it’s even harder to raise. The chances of startups reaching these stages have never been exceptionally high, but the decline in venture capital makes the task even more difficult.

    It also means that journalists are likely to pay attention to your project if you get past this milestone. News about companies raising millions of dollars and guest posts about how they managed to do it in such a volatile economy regularly appear in Techcrunch, Forbes, Venture Beat, Entrepreneur and other media outlets. So, it’s much easier for a startup that has attracted such funding to pitch its success story to editorial boards.

    Although the odds of winning the game with a joker increase dramatically, you’ll also need trumps for sustained success. Let’s talk about them now.

    Related: 5 Ways to Make Journalists Actually Want to Publish Your Brand’s Stories

    Industry reports with exclusive figures

    Unique market data may be the trump ace that will help you get into top-tier media outlets. A cybersecurity company specializing in preventing DDoS attacks can collect information on the number and types of such attacks in different regions, as well as the most attack-prone industries, and share the results with journalists. At the very least, this story may be published on specialized cybersecurity news websites. And at most, international publishers with a broader profile and audience, such as Bloomberg and CNBC, will express their interest.

    An important tip from my experience is to consider the specifics of a particular media outlet. If you want to pitch your report to a news agency that writes about the UAE, don’t try to focus on global trends in your story, as editors will be primarily interested in the local situation. And vice versa, if you aim to get into the global technology and business media, emphasize the international trends and how the industry is changing.

    A well-known investor

    With an investment of at least $1 million, this card can be your trump jack, queen or even king. A high-profile investor can attract media attention for two reasons. First, the name of a recognized venture fund or business angel can hook the reader and compel them to read the entire article. Second, it is a quality marker for journalists. If an experienced investor noticed a project, there is a higher chance that the startup makes a worthwhile product. Of course, this is not always the case — the story of Theranos shows otherwise. Still, the project gained worldwide fame even before the scandal.

    This trump card works exceptionally well if the investment made is the first of its kind for the fund — or, on the contrary, continues a series of funding rounds in a particular area. For example, in 2022, Techcrunch wrote about a16z investing in BreederDAO, a blockchain-based producer of digital assets for games and virtual worlds. Before this, a16z had supported several other decentralized solutions, which caught journalists’ attention. And in 2023, Reuters mentioned that Sequoia made its first investment into defense technology company Mach Industries.

    Having a reputable investor on board also becomes a trump when raising the next round. At the very least, they can help founders with valuable contacts in the industry. One study shows that 20% of venture deals come from referrals by other investors. Plus, the fact that someone experienced has invested in the company means that they have already conducted due diligence, evaluated the market, competitors, product and team —and concluded that the deal is worth the risk, which enhances the reputation of the project in the eyes of venture capitalists.

    Innovative technology

    If you have developed a unique solution and can prove it — congratulations, that’s another trump card. I’m pretty sure that you’ve seen articles with headlines like “This startup is looking to…” more than once in major media outlets. For instance, “This startup is zapping seawater to tackle climate change” in The Verge or “This startup wants to give farmers a closer look at crops-from space” in Wired. Often, subjects of these stories try to tackle pressing issues, such as staff shortages in the healthcare industry, food crisis or global warming, through technology. So, if you offer a truly innovative solution, especially if you are solving a critical social problem, the chance of seeing a feature about your startup in a top media outlet increases dramatically.

    However, often, more than this is needed. In our practice, there was a case where a top-tier journal was interested in a healthcare robotics project but agreed to publish a longread about it only when the team got first clients on board. In the case of The Verge story mentioned above, partnership with Boeing became one of the startup’s chips, which helped it to win the pitching game. If you don’t have that, the task can get more complicated.

    Plus, in some cases, pitching to investors may take more time and effort. Suppose we are talking about a complex, innovative high-tech product, for example, in biotechnology or alternative energy industries. In that case, many investors may be scared off by the long payback period and the hardships associated with hardware development.

    Still, if you are disrupting a niche and can provide supporting documents such as patents, a detailed description of the technology, test results, competitors and market analysis — you’ve added a trump card to your hand.

    Related: The 10 Things You Should Cover in Every Investment Pitch (Infographic)

    Successful entrepreneurial experience

    If your past projects have succeeded, it will be easier for you to attract your target audience’s attention. And if you have already created a market leader, count that as your trump king or ace, both for the media outlets and investors.

    The most straightforward example confirming both theses is Adam Neumann, founder of WeWork, who raised $350 million from a16z for his new real estate startup, Flow. Major media outlets wrote about it because of the huge investment amount, the well-known investor and the fact that it was Neumann, the founder of a coworking giant. His controversial past didn’t scare off a16z. General partner Chris Dixon said of Adam, “He’s one of the few founders — I mean, he’s one of the only people in the world who has built a real estate brand name.”

    If the previous project was successful but did not reach such heights as WeWork, such a trump card will unlikely change the situation without others and may not help you get into the top-tier media. But it is indispensable when pitching to investors because, at the early stage, they look at the team first. With an experienced founder in front of them, they will be more interested in considering the project. According to PitchBook, the fundraising process is easier for serial entrepreneurs. Moreover, they get a deal size and preliminary valuation 2-4 times higher than their less experienced colleagues.

    News tied to current events

    Journalists want their stories to be relevant. Tying your pitch to current events greatly increases your chances of being mentioned. Since no one can constantly generate breakthrough news, it’s a great way to stay in the spotlight. During the pandemic, media outlets featured compilations of projects fighting Covid-19, stories about companies that had to change strategies to stay afloat, and guest posts about how different technologies can help to stop coronavirus from spreading. Of course, you can’t predict how things will turn out and when your expertise and product will be most relevant to journalists. Still, keeping a finger on the pulse and seizing the right moment can become your trump card.

    As your company grows, you will acquire more and more trumps. The best part is that they will stay with you for future battles, unlike in a real game of cards. For example, the “Attracted substantial funding from a recognized investor” card will definitely help you in the next round of pitching. The more trumps you have, the stronger the player you are — the easier it is to win even the most challenging games: getting top-tier media coverage and finding new investors through publications.

    Related: 6 Tips on Grabbing Major Media Coverage for Your Business

    Evgeniya Zaslavskaya

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  • I Pitched 300 People a Day For 1 Year — and Learned This Impactful Entrepreneurial Lesson | Entrepreneur

    I Pitched 300 People a Day For 1 Year — and Learned This Impactful Entrepreneurial Lesson | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Several years before the pandemic, I was a salesman for a small NYC marketing firm. Our main client was a cosmetics brand, and our campaign consisted of each salesperson canvasing a given territory. Our territories would be whole towns and shopping centers, and our goal was to individually speak to 300 people a day about our makeup products.

    Everyone thought I was crazy for ever taking such a job. In the rain, snow or the blistering summer sun, I was to walk up to every stranger I saw and pitch them. As challenging as this may sound, I managed to get promoted twice, have a team of three direct reports and would consistently rank in the top five of 30 marketers when it came to sales volume generated.

    However, after about a year of this, I plateaued in performance. I often felt burnt out as I ran into mental blocks I couldn’t immediately overcome. Soon my sales performance would drop as a result. In a position that demanded that I maintain a positive attitude, I realized that I was not ready to take things to the next level, so I resigned.

    I came out of that experience as a changed man, but I also knew that my work had only begun. As I introspected, I realized that I had many limiting beliefs and external stressors that contributed to my attitude and how I came across in my social interactions. In particular, my mindset around money and how to acquire it was generally skewed and shaky.

    At the time, I usually lived in a place of scarcity, as I believed that people and money were things to chase after and hustle for. As a result, the way I spoke to people and generally carried myself directly reflected these beliefs. I would always wonder why I would have to do twice the work to get the same results top performers would get. It wasn’t until I got my next sales position that I got the mindset shift I needed to skyrocket my sales volume.

    Related: Harnessing the Power of Positive Thinking to Grow Your Business

    When you change how you look at things, the things you look at change

    As a sales professional, you must know that your clients and customers only buy from service providers they know, like, and trust. They need to be sold on you as an individual or brand before they ever buy your products.

    It is also common knowledge that our attitudes are contagious in the presence of other humans. In our brains, we have mirror neurons that pick up different emotions that others experience, leading us to mirror and share these same emotions in an unconscious empathetic response. That said, it is of the utmost importance as sales professionals and entrepreneurs to be mindful of how we carry ourselves and take inventory of the many factors contributing to how we show up for others.

    From my later experiences as a meditation teacher and life coach, I’ve found that sales professionals typically act from one of three levels of consciousness:

    1. Inactivity
    2. Hyperactivity
    3. Integrity

    Inactivity

    Inactivity is the mindset where you’re overwhelmed with negative emotions and insecurity to the point where you don’t take action. I was in this state of mind towards the end of my canvassing job. I burnt out so severely that most of my interactions with others became awkward, forced and robotic. I’d get little to nothing done as no one trusted me, not even myself.

    Hyperactivity

    Hyperactivity is the mindset that I’ve found most sales professionals live from. We adopt a hustler mentality from this energy space, chasing after people and money purely for our personal gratification. We see others as a means to an end; each prospect and lead we have is simply a number we must get through to see if they will pay us.

    From a place of hyperactivity, our interactions come off as impersonal and disingenuous, as our selfish desires prevent us from truly connecting with our prospecting clients. We may also come off as manipulative and shady, for we tend to do whatever it takes to make a sale.

    Hyperactivity was the mindset I was in at the height of my canvassing job. I was only ever playing a numbers game with people and never looked to connect with them genuinely. As a result, I would often have to speak to twice as many people to get the same results as those who moved with more integrity.

    Related: The 10 Traits Every Good Salesperson Has in Common

    Integrity

    When a salesperson acts from a place of integrity, they realize that there is an exchange of value when a sale happens. For that exchange of value to take place, the salesperson must take their focus off of their individual needs and place it on the needs of their client. In effectively understanding our clients and prospects, being a salesman becomes more about providing excellent service and aligning their needs with our offerings. Because our clients now feel seen, heard and understood, they are much more likely to give us their money than a hyperactive hustler.

    To live and do business from a place of integrity, we must take inventory of what’s causing us to show up without it. We often carry limiting beliefs about people and money stemming from childhood, past bad experiences and our current financial situations.

    Perhaps it’s time to find a good mentor if you live in hyperactivity or inactivity. It’s from mentorship that I broke free from my limiting thought patterns, for my mentors helped me become aware of my blind spots. In becoming more self-aware, I would naturally find higher principles to live and do business by.

    May we find our lives to be much more prosperous in understanding that doing business means being of service to the human nature of others.

    Jonathan Brierre

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  • To Secure VC Funding, Your Pitch Deck Must Include These 5 Things | Entrepreneur

    To Secure VC Funding, Your Pitch Deck Must Include These 5 Things | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Venture capitalists are always on the lookout for the next big thing, and most of them review hundreds of decks monthly. Seasoned VCs need 30 seconds to decide whether the pitch deck is worthy and whether they should proceed and arrange a meeting with the founder.

    If you’re an entrepreneur looking for VC funding, you need to understand what investors are looking for in a company before they decide to invest. Here are five things that should be in your deck, without which Leta Capital won’t invest in your company.

    Related: Seeking Funding? Here Are Five Tips for Creating an Effective Pitch Deck

    1. A clear and compelling problem statement in conjunction with the timing

    First, you sell the problem, not the decision. The market need, not the product. VCs are looking for companies that solve real problems for real people. Your deck should clearly articulate the current state your company is changing, why it matters and then how you do it. The problem statement should be clear, concise and compelling. It should show that you’ve done your research and understand your target market. For example, Airbnb’s problem statement was: “People need affordable, safe, and unique accommodations when they travel.” This statement makes clear that Airbnb is solving a real problem in the travel industry. Moreover, people travel as much as ever before, so the timing was perfect.

    2. Realistic projections and a scalable model

    There is nothing worse than unrealistic and unprovable projections. If you claim that today you have $10k MRR and two customers, but next year you will make millions, and in 5 years, you will have an IPO, no one will believe you. You just don’t have enough data to convince people! Keep in mind that VCs want to invest in companies that can scale and generate significant returns on their investment. Your deck should show that you have a clear and scalable business model that can generate revenue and profit over time. That is why your traction, your business model and your projections should match.

    3. Full focus and commitment from the founders

    VCs want to invest in companies that have a strong team with a track record of success. But even more than that, VCs want to see the absolute commitment of the founders if we are talking about seed/series A stages when entrepreneurs need to work really hard and invest all the energy and time to boost their startup. Of course, the deck should show that you have a team with the skills and experience necessary to execute on your business plan. The red flag here is if you say that you need to raise money to hire a technical co-founder or lead engineer. In that case, VCs will think that you can’t attract and convince technical talent. You should figure out how to convince people to join you on your own — otherwise, how will you create a game-changing company?

    Related: Five Best Pitch Decks of All Time

    4. Competitive advantage and a POD among competitors

    No competition? No market. You should admit that if the problem exists, someone is already solving it somehow. Don’t belittle competitors, and don’t say they are stupid (especially corporations or startups with a proven track record or huge funding). However, VCs want to invest in companies that have a competitive advantage over their competitors.

    Your deck should show that you have a unique product or service that sets you apart from your competition. For example, Tesla disrupted the automotive industry by offering electric vehicles that were more environmentally friendly and had better performance than traditional gas-powered cars. Their competitive advantage and POD were their focus on innovation, sustainability and design.

    5. A clear path to exit

    VCs want to invest in companies that have a clear path to exit. Of course, investors don’t want to fund founders who haven’t built the company already want to sell it, but still, your deck should show that you have a plan for how investors can eventually make a return on their investment. This is an art, but nobody promised this would be easy!

    If you’re looking to secure VC funding, your deck needs to show that you have chosen the perfect timing to solve a real problem, that you have a scalable business model executed by a strong and dedicated team, you have a competitive advantage, and your company will give an investor the desired returns after 5-10 years. By including these five things in your deck, you can increase your chances of securing the funding you need to take your company to the next level.

    Related: How a VC Wants to Be Pitched

    Alexander Chachava

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  • A Guide to Visualizing Data in Your Pitch Deck | Entrepreneur

    A Guide to Visualizing Data in Your Pitch Deck | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As an entrepreneur, a pitch deck is your most powerful tool to impress investors and raise investments from them. However, creating the perfect pitch deck can be a real challenge, and only 1% of pitch decks succeed in acquiring funds! So, how do you make things work here?

    To make a convincing impact, your pitch decks should tell an engaging story that covers the customers’ problems, the solution you provide, market conditions, your financials, your traction and predictions and all other relevant details. At the same time, the presentation should also be concise and persuasive. How do you achieve this balance?

    One of the best ways to make such a concise yet convincing pitch deck is by using data visualization. After all, visual content constitutes 90% of the information transmitted to the brain, and we process visuals 60,000 times quicker than text! So, this article will focus on the art of visualizing data in your investment deck, helping you make complex information more engaging, accessible and persuasive for investors. Let’s begin!

    Importance of data visualization in pitch decks

    Data visualization plays a crucial role in pitch decks, as it allows you to present complex information clearly, concisely and visually appealingly. A well-crafted pitch deck should convey your startup’s story and showcase your data in a way that quickly and effectively communicates your business’s potential.

    Remember that investors review numerous pitch decks, and the average investor spends only 3 minutes and 44 seconds on a pitch deck, so using data visualization is essential for creating a memorable, concise and convincing pitch deck is essential.

    Data visualization will drive the success of your pitch decks at all points, from Seed to Series A! So, you must understand and follow the principles of visualizing data effectively at all stages. Here are some pointers to help you do this easily.

    Related: 4 Strategies for Pitching Company Stories That Rise Above the Noise

    Choosing the tools: Selecting the right charts and graphs

    Choosing the right charts and graphs for your data is vital for an effective investor deck. Consider your audience, the type of data you are presenting and the message you want to convey to choose the right visualization tool.

    I identified 11 common types of charts, graphs and tables that are best for visualizing data, both non-financial and financial data visuals. Let’s check out these graphs and their applications to help you choose the right one-

    Non-Financial Charts and Graphs

    • Line Graph — Shows the trends over defined periods.
    • Pie Chart — Displays distribution of a single data point among categories.
    • Proportional Area or Comparison Chart — Represents market size and the portion a company hopes to capture.
    • Bar Charts — Compares different categories using horizontal or vertical bars.
    • Timeline or Roadmap — Demonstrates the company’s plans and milestones.
    • Competitor Matrix/Comparison — Compares a company’s features, strengths and weaknesses against competitors.

    Financial Charts and Graphs

    • Stacked Bar Graph — Demonstrates growth and distribution between different segments.
    • Bar Graph — Shows growth or trends in financial data.
    • Financial Table Snapshot — Provides a high-level summary of financial projections.
    • Line Graph — Displays trends in financial data, such as revenue or profit.
    • Stacked Area Line Chart — Shows different segment slices that make up overall financial figures.

    Remember that you don’t have to stick to one type of visualization tool. Use multiple charts and graphs in your investment deck based on the slide’s content and the aspects being covered.

    Related: 5 Tips for Taking Your Pitch Deck From Seed to Series A

    Adding the visuals: Incorporating data visuals into your pitch deck

    To create a cohesive pitch deck, ensure that data visuals complement your narrative and follow a consistent design across the presentation. Each visual should support the main points of the respective slide and must be strategically placed to maintain the flow of your investor presentation or deck.

    Moreover, you must avoid overwhelming investors with data by including only the most relevant and impactful visuals. Some of the most compelling Data Points to Visualize in a Pitch Deck are:

    • 1, 3, and 5-year revenue
    • 1, 3, and 5-year profitability
    • Customer churn rate
    • Customer signups
    • Customer acquisition costs
    • Break-even point
    • MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) Growth
    • CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)
    • Sales

    Enhancing the pitch: Balancing aesthetics and clarity

    While creating visually appealing data visuals is important, clarity should not be compromised. Your pitch deck should balance aesthetics and clarity, using colors, fonts and design elements that enhance the overall message without distracting from the data. Here are key points to consider when designing your pitch deck:

    • Select appropriate visuals — Choose the most relevant visuals that enhance your message while you make a pitch deck. This could include graphs, tables and infographics.
    • Use videos where appropriate — Don’t hesitate to include explainer videos to explain complicated concepts, as people typically prefer videos to understand new information. After all, videos make up nearly 82% of internet traffic!
    • Ensure clarity — Opt for simple, easy-to-understand visuals that are relevant to your data and message. Also, make sure that the visuals are correctly sized and labeled to enhance readability.
    • Prioritize readability — Ensure that text is easy to read by using clear fonts and appropriate font sizes. Avoid overcrowding the slides, and don’t cross 75 words per slide.
    • Use consistent design elements — Apply a uniform design throughout your pitch deck using consistent colors, fonts and style. This consistency enhances the visual appeal and makes your presentation look polished and professional.
    • Leverage whitespace — Whitespace, or empty space on your slides, can help guide the viewer’s attention and prevent clutter. Use whitespace strategically to improve readability and emphasize key points.
    • Color scheme — Use a color scheme that complements your branding and improves readability. Avoid using too many colors or overly bright hues that can be distracting or difficult to read.
    • Test and refine — Gather feedback from others to ensure your pitch deck balances aesthetics, clarity and informative value. Iterate and refine the design and content based on the feedback you receive.

    By considering these points, you can make a pitch deck that is visually appealing while effectively communicating your message to potential investors.

    A successful example of data visualization in an investor deck is the one used by Uber in their early funding rounds. They used simple yet compelling visuals and points to demonstrate their market potential, operating areas, services and growth trajectory. The perfect visual tool selection, clarity and simplicity allowed investors to quickly grasp the startup’s innovative idea and potential, leading to successful funding rounds.

    Related: Successful Fundraising Begins With a Stellar Pitch Deck

    Conclusion

    Incorporating effective data visualization in your pitch deck can make a significant difference in capturing investor interest. By selecting the right charts and graphs, incorporating visuals strategically and balancing aesthetics with clarity, you can create a compelling and persuasive pitch deck that stands out among the competition. If you find this complicated, you can also go for a pitch deck agency that specializes in making pitches with effective data visualizations. All the best!

    Vikas Agrawal

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  • How to Attract Investors During Tough Times | Entrepreneur

    How to Attract Investors During Tough Times | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Whether the economy is doing well or in a phase of uncertainty, the fundamentals of building an investable start-up remain the same. You don’t need to be a mind reader to determine what investors want to know.

    Here are five tips to help convince potential investors that your solution solves a big problem for a large market and that your team has the talent, creativity and character to deliver on your business plan in favorable or uncertain market conditions.

    1. Be clear about the problem

    It is more important than ever to be clear with investors about the problem your company solves. The number one thing that matters today is how quickly and clearly an entrepreneur can articulate the problem that her startup solves. Why? Because investors know that when a startup fails, it is usually because there is insufficient demand for the product. What specifically about your solution will make customers change what they are currently doing and pay for your new product?

    Related: 5 Things to Do Now to Propel Your Business in 2023

    2. Know your audience

    Determine beyond any doubt that you are working in a space that an investor cares about and that your vision and goals align with theirs. Investors in technology-driven high-growth companies are looking for hyper-growth in specific industries, for example, advanced materials, information technology or biotechnology — large markets with tremendous opportunities. If your vision isn’t stoked by the risk and endurance it takes to build and scale those businesses, high-growth entrepreneurship is likely not the right path for you.

    3. Provide the evidence

    Nothing beats demonstrating your first-hand understanding of your market. Entrepreneurs who have lived with a problem in previous roles or their personal lives uniquely understand the impact and the potential gains of their solution. Suppose that’s your backstory, great. If not, describing what you learned and how you pivoted from surveys, interviews and by listening to customers builds credibility—especially when some of those customers are willing to become early adopters and go through multiple iterations to prototype your technology and prove your business model. Convincing customers helps convince investors.

    Investors expect entrepreneurs to be enthusiastic. When that passion is combined with an understanding of customers’ needs and of the impacts that your startup solving their problems can have on their bottom line, investors pay attention. Focusing on your customer’s pain points and the payback of your solution encourages investors to focus on you.

    Related: A Good Story Isn’t Enough to Get Your Startup Funded. Here’s What Else
    You Need

    4. Understand the economics

    What has to happen for your new business to achieve 20, 50 or 100% year-over-year growth? Investors will listen when you demonstrate your clear understanding of the business unit economics for your company. Show how you can gain enough traction with the first feature set and early adopters to prove the market and technical viability of your solution and market. Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on a specific solution that they become less open to a solution that could be better. Show that you know how to listen for signals and to narrow up or pivot if that’s what it takes to scale.

    While there may be multiple longer-term markets and product enhancements, don’t dilute your team’s focus. Can you build the solution? Is there a gap in the solution? Can you plug in? Focus on business development, not product innovation. Prove scalability in the first market and generate enough revenue to secure follow-on funding to support additional growth.

    Related: 5 Things Investors Want to Know Before Signing a Check

    5. Show your flexible mindset

    Investors want to collaborate with high-integrity, coachable entrepreneurs. Every interaction with you influences whether you are someone investors will trust and want to invest in. Balance the tightrope between ego and confidence. Be willing to acknowledge what you know and what you don’t. It’s rare to find an entrepreneur who hasn’t made mistakes.

    Eventually, almost every startup will need a flexible mindset to pivot on some aspect of their business plan. Seek trusted advice, then follow your instincts. Successful entrepreneurship always comes back to the basics — market validation, product/market fit and staying focused on the business plan.

    Trustworthy, confident and coachable entrepreneurs don’t allow an uncertain economy to distract them from executing their business plan.

    Kristy Campbell

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  • 10 Presentation Trends to Help Your Next Pitch | Entrepreneur

    10 Presentation Trends to Help Your Next Pitch | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Presentations have become a critical part of professional and educational settings. Whether you are pitching a new project, delivering a report or teaching a lesson, your presentation design can make or break your message. So, you must hit the nail on the head with every presentation you make.

    As a result, the demand for visually engaging and convincing presentations is on the rise. In fact, a whopping 91% of presenters feel more confident when presenting with a well-designed slide deck. However, effective presentation design is not static. It evolves with changing preferences, technologies, and expectations of the audience.

    To keep your presentations fresh and engaging, you must stay on top of the latest trends and best practices in presentation design. So, this blog will update you on the latest presentation design trends to help you stay at the frontier of the art of presentation design. Let’s begin!

    Related: 5 Sales Presentation Tips From a Self-Made Millionaire

    Top 10 modern presentation design trends in 2023

    Replace boring traditional presentations with modern presentations that grip the audience by incorporating these top 10 presentation design trends in 2023.

    1. Use of augmented reality (AR). Enhance your presentation by overlaying digital information onto the physical environment through augmented reality. This creates a more interactive and realistic experience for your audience, making your presentation more memorable.
    2. Flowing shapes. Incorporate organic and irregular shapes into your presentation design to create dynamic and attractive visuals that capture attention and maintain focus. These flowing shapes add an element of movement and energy to your slides, keeping your audience engaged. Here is an example of flowing shapes while implementing dark modes.
    3. Application of 3D design. Use realistic and immersive graphics to create depth and dimension by adding 3D elements that enhance your content. Ensure that 3D graphics are high-quality but do not slow down your presentation or distract the audience.
    4. Increasing popularity of dark mode. Utilize dark backgrounds and light text to reduce eye strain and make your content stand out. This design feature looks modern and enhances readability, ensuring your message gets across effectively.
    5. Growing use of interactive VR technology. Take realism and engagement to the next level by creating VR 3D experiences that customers can interact with using VR headsets and controllers. These are highly engrossing presentations that are tricky to master but unparalleled in effectiveness.
    6. Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Employ algorithms and machine learning to automate and optimize various aspects of presentation design, such as content creation, data analysis, speech recognition and personalization. This allows you to focus on delivering an impactful message while AI takes care of the design details.
    7. Increased use of video content and mixed media. Video content is highly popular, making more than 82% of web traffic, and you can leverage them in your presentations as well! You must also combine audio, visuals, animations, and text to deliver a rich, immersive experience that caters to different learning styles.
    8. Advanced data visualization. Transform complex data into simple and clear visual forms using graphs, infographics, animations, and explainer videos to support your arguments and reveal insights. By presenting data visually appealingly, you can make your presentation more persuasive and easier for your audience to understand.
    9. Increasing use of short videos, animations and GIFs. Utilize animated images or clips to convey information or emotion, but keep animations short and relevant to maintain audience engagement. Also, remember to optimize animation and GIF file sizes to prevent slow loading times. Here is an example.
    10. Holographic presentations. Holographic presentations are a way of using multimedia content (such as images, videos, charts, etc.) to communicate with your audience through an engaging, three-dimensional medium. They can be created by using cameras that capture the speaker from different angles and project them onto a special screen or platform. They can also include special effects and sounds to enhance the experience.

    Related: 5 Tips for Giving a Killer Sales Presentation

    Tips for creating and delivering a killer presentation

    Ready to incorporate the latest trends into your presentations? Follow these pro presentation tips to make the most of your first modern presentation-

    • Do proper homework on the subject. Research your topic thoroughly to ensure you can present accurate information and answer questions confidently.
    • Start with a hook. Include an interesting or surprising fact, statistic, or anecdote that captures your audience’s attention and encourages them to want to learn more.
    • Tell an engaging story. Narrate a story that relates to your topic, making it more relatable and memorable for your audience.
    • Use visual elements. Incorporate high-quality images, graphics, and videos to support your message and maintain audience interest. Presentations having visuals are 43% more persuasive than those lacking them.
    • Add a touch of humor. Lighten the mood with appropriate jokes or funny anecdotes to make your presentation more enjoyable and memorable.
    • Have a parking lot for questions. Set aside time at the end of your presentation for questions, ensuring you address any audience inquiries or concerns.
    • Keep it short and simple. Limit your presentation to the essential information and avoid lengthy explanations. The optimal length of a presentation is between 15 and 20 minutes.
    • Incorporate Data when required. Use data, statistics, or charts to back up your points and add credibility to your presentation.
    • Practice your delivery. Rehearse your presentation multiple times to ensure a smooth and professional delivery.
    • Maintain eye contact and interact with the audience. Engage with your audience by making eye contact, demonstrating confidence and fostering a connection.
    • Control your pacing. Speak slowly and clearly, pausing when appropriate to allow your audience time to absorb the information.
    • End with a strong closing. Summarize your main points and conclude your presentation with a memorable statement or call to action.

    Related: Plan the Perfect Presentation for Your Audience With These 5 Tips

    Implementing these presentation design trends and tips will help you create visually appealing and compelling presentations that stand out and capture your audience’s attention while communicating your message.

    To get started, you can use any reputed presentation design tool or go with a presentation design agency and leverage their expertise and experience to ensure the best standards. Whichever option you choose, always remember to stay up to date with the latest design trends and continually refine your presentation skills to stand out and make a lasting impression.

    Vikas Agrawal

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  • Your Cold Pitch Sucks. Here’s How to Approach Prospects the Right Way.

    Your Cold Pitch Sucks. Here’s How to Approach Prospects the Right Way.

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s happened to you. A notification pops up that you have a direct message. Someone wants to connect. You open your DM to see a comment from a stranger about your post on social media or a compliment on your recent win to engage you in a seemingly innocent conversation. Those pleasantries are short-lived when suddenly their offer details start coming at you faster than ninja stars.

    What do you do? I block and delete those messages without batting an eye. Spammy cold pitches are one of my biggest pet peeves and they aren’t welcome in my space.

    Online platforms have opened up opportunities for entrepreneurs to connect with people who wouldn’t have been in their orbits before. That’s a good thing, but that doesn’t mean you should throw manners and etiquette out the window. You wouldn’t walk right up to someone in person and immediately start pitching them your products, so don’t do it online.

    Related: The Fine Art of Client Pitching

    The problem with blind cold pitches

    The copy-and-paste version of your sales spiel that you’re blindly sending to the masses completely lacks personality and sincerity. Worse yet, it shows that you are only interested in selfish gains. If you haven’t done your homework to learn about your prospect and understand their needs, they won’t want to invest their time listening to what you have to say.

    My time is valuable! A cold pitch shows me you don’t value my time. I’m loyal to people who take the time to build a great relationship with me and develop the know, like and trust factors. Those are the ones who will be collaborators with me for life. Your approach is key. You lose credibility when you send a cold pitch without building any rapport first.

    It takes time to cultivate a long-lasting business relationship, but the return on investment is much greater than the “spray and pray” method of broadcasting your wares. Your time is better spent building lasting relationships with someone who will need you in the future and will happily refer you many times over.

    Related: 5 Psychology-Backed Tips for Earning, and Keeping, a Prospect’s Trust

    The right approach

    For the best results, approach connecting through DM the same way you would network in person. At this stage, it’s not about making money from that first sale. Keep brand alignment top of mind, and determine if the person you want to connect with is the right fit for your business. Find the people who vibe with what you’re about, and leave your agenda at the door. This will ensure you’re approaching the relationship with authenticity, not “commission breath.”

    Look for opportunities to develop a genuine connection with them. When you take a sincere interest in others as a human being, that’s when the magic happens. It’s important to know about their business, but also take the time to look at what interests your prospect has outside of work. Do you have hobbies, groups or friends in common? Details like this can be found on their online platforms and make it easier for you to connect with them on a personal level.

    After you’ve done your research, send a message that provides the other person with a benefit. Lead with value! Assert your knowledge in a friendly way to begin building the foundation of your relationship. Recognize also that not everyone will be interested in connecting, regardless of your sincerity.

    A great relationship between me and a (fitness professional?) in my circle began in my DM. This person saw a flaw in one of the yoga poses that I shared on social media. He wanted to help, so he sent me a message. His request was too forward and personal, it caught me off-guard. He’s a giving person and genuinely wanted to help me, but without knowing him just yet, my spidey senses kicked in. Luckily, he pivoted from that first comment and took the time to build my trust in him.

    Over the next few months, he was active on my social media, cheering me on through my yoga journey and contributing to my page engagement. He provided value by sharing pointers with me that I could use to improve my poses. Pretty soon, I was reaching out to him with questions. He invested time in developing our relationship and showed me that he was an authority in his area of expertise.

    Related: The 6 Worst Opening Moves for Starting a Business Relationship

    Pursue quality over quantity

    Always pursue quality over quantity. You don’t need to spam everyone with a thoughtless message that will likely be ignored or get you blocked. Spend time making real connections with people you align with to form lasting relationships and create effortless business for the long haul.

    People work with others they know, like and trust — regardless of where they meet. Technology and online platforms provide valuable advantages to grow our network and work faster, but authentic relationships will always be key to lasting success.

    Jessica Dennehy

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  • How to Send a Funding Pitch

    How to Send a Funding Pitch

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Funding round stories are imperative for a startup’s success, especially during an economic downturn. They show the world that there is trust in the business’s longevity as investors believe the company is likely to succeed and provide returns. These announcements also inspire excitement and further emotional investment in the company. However, with journalist response rates decreasing quarter by quarter, it’s getting increasingly difficult to get company news out, especially for funding.

    To determine what will make journalists more likely to open and respond to a pitch, my company, Propel, analyzed approximately 3,500 funding pitches and found three key insights to use in your company’s next pitching strategy:

    Related: Five Ways To Raise Money To Launch Your Own Startup

    1. Use short, attention-grabbing subject lines

    Journalists want to know precisely what they’re going to find when they open up a pitch email, and this is no different when it comes to funding announcements. In fact, out of all the data, we found that funding pitches with subject lines of no more than nine words were opened the most frequently, garnering a 7% response rate. This is huge, especially given that the industry average response rate across all pitching types is just 3.35%.

    One reason is that journalists are inundated with pitches, so the faster they understand a pitch, the better. Many journalists also look at pitch emails on their phones, and with only so much space for so many characters in the subject line, PR pros must be able to quickly and briefly tell the story from the subject line. I recommend putting the name of the company and the funding amount in the subject line so the journalist knows what they’re going to read.

    Related: 7 Headline Writing Formats That Get Journalists to Read Your Pitch

    2. Don’t make the pitch an epic novel

    The adage “short and sweet” also applies to the pitch’s body. We found that pitches between 50-149 words were getting the best response rates at 15%. However, for some reason, we saw that most PR pros were sending funding pitches between 500-1,000 words long. For context, that’s the length of 2-4 word pages double-spaced!

    Journalists don’t have the time or energy to read a novel about the company getting a funding round. Instead, a PR pro should provide enough background information on the company and the budget to get a journalist interested in the story, with the ultimate goal of having them request the press release. That way, they won’t be intimidated by facing a wall of text.

    Related: Why Your Marketing Team Should Be Journalists

    3. Pitch Friday, release mid-week

    As it turns out, the day of the week you pitch a journalist a funding story is just as important as the length of the pitch or subject line. To this end, we found that the days with the most journalist responses to funding pitches occurred on Wednesdays, with 24% of responses occurring on this day. However, we found that the day with the highest likelihood of a pitch getting opened is, perhaps counterintuitively, Friday. Most PR pros had gut feelings that these were the best days to pitch funding news, but now there are hard numbers to back it up.

    While Wednesdays are still great days to pitch and to have press releases released from the embargo, the fact that pitching on Fridays gives you such a high likelihood of getting a response came as a surprise. However, the data shows that only approximately 5% of pitches are sent on Fridays. This means that journalists aren’t inundated with new pitches, so they have the time to read your story idea. 15% of responses happened on Friday, making it the day with the best ratio of pitches to responses.

    Given the worldwide economic slowdown, getting the word out that your organization is stable is more important than ever. One of the best ways to do this is by putting out a funding release, which sends a signal of strength to potential customers and stability to future investors. And by using actionable, data-driven insights, you can enable your funding campaign to reach its maximum potential. I hope that these findings will be used as guideposts for other professionals in the PR industry to enable them to create better pitching strategies and get better results.

    Zach Cutler

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  • Press Releases May Seem Old-School, But They Work. Here’s How to Use Them.

    Press Releases May Seem Old-School, But They Work. Here’s How to Use Them.

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Do you want to increase online mentions, create more backlinks and boost brand awareness? Who doesn’t? Digital PR can do just that, and one of the most overlooked digital PR strategies is creating and distributing press releases. Let’s see how to use the process within your SEO strategy.

    A press release is a written text about specific news or events within your business. Press releases are a proactive way to provide journalists and media outlets with important information about an organization so they can write their piece and publish it.

    Look at it like digital storytelling. You want your press release to be interesting and exciting enough to capture the attention of media outlets, blogs and other distributors.

    Related: Harness the Power of New Public Relations Technology

    Press releases and SEO

    So can press release distribution help your SEO? The short answer is yes. The goal of press release distribution shouldn’t necessarily be to gain a particular number of backlinks to your website, but it should be used as a distribution channel to share your brand’s content. The links you want are created by the journalists who have transcribed your story. They’ll likely be high-quality, natural, relevant and authoritative backlinks, and quality backlinks are a significant ranking factor.

    Every website wants these included within its backlink profile, so with press release distribution, you should aim to provide content that would get journalists and news publications to talk about your business and the information you’ve provided. They’ll write about the press release and put their natural spin on the story; when they do, they’ll link back to your website as a reference for their readers.

    They’re most likely to be linked to your homepage, making press releases an excellent brand-building exercise. Landing media coverage, both online and offline, is great for brand exposure and can generate a good range of natural backlinks to your website, as well as plenty of referral traffic from users who are reading and sharing the news publication.

    Related: How to Write a Press Release Reporters Will Actually Read

    Press release distribution

    Now let’s take a look at how press release distribution works. Firstly, don’t attempt to write a press release if you don’t have anything to write about. A journalist’s time is limited. So is the real estate on their websites. You want to make your press release about a potentially groundbreaking employee initiative or an innovative product you’ve just launched.

    It would be best if you instantly grabbed the media outlet’s attention. You don’t want to be mass selected and deleted before they’ve even had a chance to find out what your press release is about. This applies to the length of the press release too. Get to the point as quickly as possible, and if the journalist wants to know more, they’ll contact you directly. Because of this, stick to one topic. Now that you have your press release, it’s time to look at how you’re distributed.

    To start, it depends on whether you’re planning to distribute your press release or use a service to write and distribute it. If you choose to distribute your press release, you may find that the conversion rate is low. However, you could use a service where everything is done for you.

    Press release writers will craft an engaging press release to get your news across professionally. The benefit of using a service to write your press release is that you don’t need to spend time and resources researching the best way to craft one. You’ll have unlimited revisions, and it won’t be distributed until it’s just right.

    Related: Press Releases Aren’t Dead. Here are 4 Reasons they Remain a Valuable Tool

    Implementing press release distribution into your marketing strategy

    Firstly, you need to consider what your press release should be about. More and more brands are adopting a more personalized, human approach to press releases. People are craving reality now more than ever, so true meaningful stories could work best.

    There is differing research on when to issue press releases; many suggest issuing them on a Tuesday or Friday at 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. Remember that an average of over 1000 press releases are fired into journalists’ inboxes each day, so varying the time of your release could enable yours to stand out and encourage more visibility.

    It may be smart to share releases a few minutes before or after the usual bombardment. Alternatively, if you choose to share your press release on social media, you want to time this when your users are most active. Share on social media in the afternoon and over the weekend because this is when people are most active on these platforms and therefore are more likely to discover, engage with and share your content. Press release distribution can be a very beneficial tool for your SEO strategy and a proper strategy can change the user experience with your business.

    Related: 5 Things Not to Do When Pitching Journalists

    Jigar T

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  • This Pitch Scored a $250,000 Investment — And It Almost Didn’t Happen

    This Pitch Scored a $250,000 Investment — And It Almost Didn’t Happen

    Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is the show where contestants get into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a video camera. Our board of investors is watching, and if they like what they hear they open the doors and the entrepreneur steps into the boardroom to try to seal the deal. If they don’t like what they hear, the entrepreneur gets sent back down.


    staff

    In this ongoing article series, we’re celebrating the entrepreneurs who walked into the boardroom and came out with a win and sharing their tips for pitching success.

    Who are you and what is your business?

    I’m Alicia Tulsee, founder of Moxie Scrubs, the first direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand for nurses. I went on the show seeking $500,000 and walked out with a $250,000 investment from Kim Perrell.

    How did you prepare for the show?

    I sought the help of our existing investors to come up with a one-minute pitch that would hit all the key points, such as total addressable market (known as TAM), customer acquisition costs (known as CAC), average order value (known as AOV), and key performance metrics such as repeat purchases and product return rates. Also, they wanted to know why and how our product is different from what’s out there in the market today and how it addresses our customer’s pain points.

    We also set up times to go through mock questions and answers to prepare me for any questions we believed investors would like to know after hearing my one-minute pitch for the first time. Once we came up with a pitch that hit all the highlights we agreed on, I practiced it nonstop — while brushing my teeth, reciting it impromptu to my husband when waking up in the middle of the night, cooking dinner. I practiced so much that I could repeat it in my sleep at the drop of a hat! This is exactly what you have to do when your one-minute timer starts counting down.

    Related: Watch the Pitch That Landed a $175,000 Investment

    What did you think was going to happen? What was different from your expectations?

    I honestly had no idea what would happen or what to expect. Nothing could prepare you for how intense the moment is when it’s your turn to give your one-minute pitch: The entire set is pin-drop silent. All eyes, ears and lights are on you. And you get no retakes. All you have is this one 60-second moment to pitch. While it was one of the most intense experiences of my life, I’m happy to share that the whole experience was better than I could have imagined. The entire crew was friendly, helpful and just really great people/ I appreciated their kindness and helpfulness so much because I had a tough time getting to Fort Lauderdale (where the set is) from Boston. I was rerouted to Miami, which is an hour away from Fort Lauderdale by car, my flight was extremely delayed, and I ultimately didn’t get to my hotel until 1 a.m. the day of filming. I was so exhausted from what was already a very intense week. I woke up a few short hours later at 5 a.m., did my hair and make-up and was the first person at the studio, camera ready at 6:30 am. When they said to be prepared for a 10-hour shoot day, they meant it. Even though I did not know what was going to happen throughout the day, all of my preparation, the support from the staff leading up to my turn to pitch, one large cup of coffee, two shots of espresso and a can of Red Bull paid off — I had victory!

    Related: She Flew Around the World to Make This 60-Second Pitch

    Why do you think they opened the doors?

    It’s hard to encompass all your hopes and dreams as an entrepreneur and all of the unique wonderful nuances of your business into a one-minute pitch. I know that investors want to know the key metrics that demonstrate why they should care about your business and why you’re motivated to do what you’re doing. I included the big takeaways from these areas in my pitch and believe that this is what made them want to learn more. For example, I demonstrated our path to profitability, metrics that proved customers love our product and backed it up with what makes Moxie Scrubs the best in the market.

    How did the negotiations go? Would you do anything differently?

    When I received an offer from Kim Perell, I was thrilled. Kim is the investor I went into the show wanting on my team. She knows exactly what it takes as a female entrepreneur to grow and scale your business. Kim built her business from scratch and understands what it’s like for the everyday American with a dream. There was nothing to negotiate because I know the value that someone like her will bring to any company. If you couldn’t already tell, I greatly admire her.

    What do you plan to do with your investment?

    This investment will be used to fund inventory costs and marketing, both essential to scale Moxie Scrubs and take our business’s impact to the next level. We are excited to grow our business with Kim Perell’s mentorship and support and make a huge difference in the lives of every single nurse across the country.

    Related: You’ve Got a Great Invention. Now How Do You Get People to Buy It?

    What did it mean to you personally to get in the doors and walk out with a win?

    As an entrepreneur, every statistic is working against you. As a female minority entrepreneur, the statistics become even worse. Getting through the doors and walking out with a win was proof to me and the world that I have moxie and will continue to defy every statistic that says people like me should not succeed. It was so gratifying because when one woman succeeds, all of us succeed. I found myself saying that Dr. Seuss quote, “Oh the places you’ll go!” in my head all day. This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful thing about entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship allows you to take your life in directions you would never think could be possible. And it’s even more beautiful when your business helps to improve the lives of millions of people across the country. I feel so grateful that I get to build this amazing brand that supports nurses where they need the support the most. Walking out with a win made me more determined to continue doing what I am most passionate about — supporting nurses.

    What is your advice for anyone thinking of applying to be on a future episode?

    Go ahead and do it. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take! And my next piece of advice would be: Don’t wing your pitch. Practice. Practice. Practice. You never know what might happen and when things don’t go as planned, your preparation will be all that you have to fall back on. And lastly, please arrive a couple of days early!

    Entrepreneur Staff

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  • The 5 Most Important Elements of a Great Series A Pitch Deck

    The 5 Most Important Elements of a Great Series A Pitch Deck

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The pitch deck is a unique beast: Once it’s created, it’s never static. As you grow, your deck will evolve alongside you. Since it’s ever-changing, it can be hard to perfect. The hard truth is that no single deck will work throughout the different stages of your company’s journey.

    From Seed to Series A, your pitch deck will go through some dramatic changes. When you pitched investors for your Seed round, you focused on your skills in finding product/market fit, assembling a great team, getting your first traction — and translating all of this onto 15 slides. Once you get to Series A, priorities shift: You’ll be talking more about tactics, performance and growth. So, how do you balance that with your big vision?

    As a VC-founded branding agency, we have built our fair share of decks that cumulatively raised $400M+ in early-stage capital over the last five years. With many of our clients, we provided support with both Seed and Series A decks. This means that we witnessed firsthand how the narrative, design and data points shift over time. Here, I have collected the five most important elements of a great pitch deck for your growing startup to take it to Series A. I’ve focused on the things that change as you grow — and the things that don’t:

    Related: This Entrepreneur Shares What You Can Do to Nail Your Investor Pitch Deck

    1. Narrative is still king

    Your company has certainly changed since your Seed round, but the rules of storytelling have not. Your pitch deck should still be like a good movie or book — it should have a beginning, a middle and an end. It should have a story arc where the protagonist overcomes obstacles along the way until they reach their goal: growth, revenue, and most importantly, solving the problem they set out to solve. Your story needs to move forward as well. If you are using the one from your Seed round, then chances are, it’s out of date!

    It might be tempting to use your deck as a collection of data points. After all, you have so many of them now. I would like to caution you here: Don’t do it. Instead, tell a story that explains why this data matters to the audience — which parts are important and how they fit together into something bigger than just numbers on a page.

    Remember that by Series A you’re expected to have a data room (a file repository on Box, Dropbox, Google, etc.) in addition to a deck. This will include detailed files for any investor who is doing serious diligence. So, instead of trying to cram as much data as possible into your deck, use it as a teaser or a narrative device.

    2. Zero in on your achievements to date

    Apart from the big picture and the bottom line, Series A investors are making a big bet on the team behind the idea. The key question they will be asking at this stage is: Does this team have the capacity to take this company to the next level?

    By the time your company reaches Series A, your vision is clearer, and you have moved past quite a few bumps in the road. This experience should be at the heart of your narrative. We see many startups cram details of their past achievements into a single slide, usually a timeline. This may not be impactful enough.

    Instead, try giving your achievements room to breathe. Pick out the ones that are relevant to your ultimate vision, and present them with sufficient detail. This will show your potential investors that your team retains focus on the long-term vision while simultaneously hitting the near-term milestones.

    Related: These Are The Ten Things Your Pitch To Investors Absolutely Has to Have

    3. Background information: It needs to be just right

    There are many ways to start your presentation. One of the most common mistakes we see is companies going overboard with background information.

    If you have a complex product in a niche industry, it might be tempting to dedicate quite a few slides in the beginning to setting the scene. While context is important, investors have very limited time to review pitches, so try to be concise and focus on a few hard-hitting brush strokes.

    You may want to start your presentation with some “background information,” but instead of going overboard with data, try segmenting it. You could break down your market into different customer segments and go through each segment separately while linking it with your solution to their problems. This approach gives your narrative momentum: You can give more color when talking about your solution and traction while keeping things rooted in real customer stories.

    4. Adapt your imagery

    You can expect a variety of visual elements in your Series A deck. Compared to a Seed deck, your Series A deck will have more charts and less stock imagery or theme-based illustrations.

    The focus should be on showcasing real images of your product and your team, so in preparation for creating this content, it might be a good idea to have some professional photos of your team, spaces and products ready. Adding a video to your deck may be useful in two ways: to provide your audience with a change of pace and to make your product (and team) more tangible.

    Since the Series A deck will be denser in words, be ready to create a higher number of “smart” visuals and infographics that can simplify and reduce the word count. However, good infographics are a tough nut to crack in production and require a lot of foresight. Remember that no infographics are better than bad infographics.

    Related: Why Your Pitch Deck Needs A Re-Design

    5. Don’t get too wordy

    When you get to Series A, you probably have a lot to say about your product and your vision. There are still some basic rules of human comprehension to follow, though: People remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read — and the average investor spends only 3 minutes and 44 seconds viewing a pitch deck.

    You need to find the balance between including important information while keeping the deck digestible. A “digestible” word count is up to 75 words per slide if you are using text, but no more than 50 words per slide if you are using visuals.

    To cut down on the word count, try using ideas or concepts that the reader may already know as a bridge between their existing knowledge and the new perspective you are trying to deliver. This will help cut down on jargon and technical terms, making shorter descriptions more evocative and impactful.

    Since a great pitch deck primarily depends on a stellar narrative, I reached out to our strategists and copywriters to recommend their favorite books on the subject:

    1. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
    2. Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
    3. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
    4. The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
    5. Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite by Paul Arden

    The pitches we see every day have grown increasingly sophisticated, with the same few slides becoming almost ubiquitous. But a good pitch deck is more than just a mélange of popular slides peppered with data: It’s a carefully constructed narrative designed to tell the story of your business in a way that excites investors and prompts them to make an investment decision. It’s not easy work, but if you follow the steps above, you can find yourself on track to landing that Series A.

    Daria Gonzalez

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